


Sometimes the Hardest Choices are the Only Option

by SaltyServal



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Other, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-06 04:15:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19055044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaltyServal/pseuds/SaltyServal
Summary: |Endgame Spoilers Ahead|Stephen Strange had looked ahead at every possible outcome. He’d seen so many failures. But when one comes up with the chance of victory, is it worth it to pay the cost?





	Sometimes the Hardest Choices are the Only Option

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little one shot idea I had  
> Something to get me started, I plan on doing some OC stuff too, but expect more Marvel one shots!
> 
> Hope you enjoy~

It was horrifying.

Every single damn path Steven Strange traced out where they won lead to one horrifying, depressing option.

Tony Stark.

The Iron Man.

He had to die.

With a yell, Strange ripped off the necklace and hurled it across the room. He sat down, feeling dejected. How could he let this happen? 

He paced the room, desperately trying to think of solutions. Picking up the time stone, he shut his eyes, searching.

Another dead end.   
This path, they all died.  
That path, only half of them did.  
This other path, only Stark survived.

And the last path, only Stark and one other died. 

What kind of sick joke is this?

But was it worth it?

The trillions is lives that could be saved on a universal scale. With one man.

It was hard not to look at how Rhodey would stand helplessly nearby. It was hard not to look how Peter Parker would sit down a few feet away, sobbing over yet another lost parental figure. It was hard not to look how Pepper would let go, letting the love of her life do the right thing one last time.

It was impossible to look at how Peppe would tell Morgan Stark that her father wasn’t ever coming home.

I love you 3000.

Steven took a deep breath. Don’t let your emotions get in the way. Follow the path. See where it ends. He let himself fall into the timeline. It was like opening a door. And this is what he saw.

“Earth is closed today!” Steven looked around. It was New York. Four shapes blocked the way to the city from… a spaceship.

Tony pressed something on his arm. His suit extended over himself and he was fully transformed to Iron Man. Bruce Banner stood awkwardly in a corner, doing something. Wong and himself were preparing to fight. It was funny to see one’s self preparing for the beginning of the end. 

The creatures standing in the ruins of New York had smug, benevolent expressions on their faces. One of them was a beast that looked like it came straight out of the Empire Strikes Back, complete with horns and beady black eyes. It didn’t look very bright, to be completely honest.

The other one looked like Voldemort and Squidward had a child. His eyes, while still strange and dark and bead-like, had a light that the other creature’s lacked. He strode toward them, his expression puckering into a thin frown. He raised his hands, speaking. But already, Strange could feel himself getting tugged along the timeline—

And found himself overlooking space. In a spaceship. Damn. How’d he get here?

Turning in a full circle, his gaze landed on Stark and himself arguing over something. Stark gestured behind him, and Strange followed his hand—

Oh. Peter Parker stood behind them, looking like he wanted to interject. Before he could, Stark shushed him.

“The adults are talking…” is what Steven caught him saying. He resisted an eye roll. He turned and walked through the nearest door, knowing full well there was nothing left in this event. He stepped lightly through the opening.

Strange blinked, taking in his new surroundings. It was the same ship, but wrecked and partially on fire. Three new people had joined himself, Stark, and Parker. Peter Quill, Mantis, and Drax the Destroyer. They had just finished their scuffle, and Stark and Quill honestly looked like they were testing if they could burn each other up with their eyes. 

“Where is Gamora?”

“I’ll do you one better- who is Gamora?”

“I’ll do you one better! Why is Gamora?” Drax’s voice came out of nowhere. Strange would have laughed if he hadn’t known what was coming. Already, their voices were fading out. ‘Planning.’ He thought. Strange turned and exited the ship, shielding his eyes from the burning sun.

This new sight made him sick. Thanos was standing over Tony, who had been speared through his side. Quill looked guilty. ‘Ah. He just let his temper get the best of him,’ Strange had seen this in other timelines. He already knew what came next.

“Wait!” He heard his own voice. With shaking hands, future him handed Thanos the time stone. A sinking feeling settled over Strange’s stomach. ‘Is this another failure?’

While in thought, he missed the moment Thanos left Titan. 

“It was the only way…” he heard himself say. Unable to take it, he took two steps away. The background shifted slightly. The sun was lower. Blood had dried. Stopping, he turned around in time to see himself dissolve.

Shock pulsed through him. Reeling, he caught Peter and Tony hugging— and then Peter dissolving in his arms.

‘This isn’t real. This isn’t real. This isn’t real.’

‘But it could be.’

He was about to yank himself out of this timeline when he found himself on Earth. 

It was a lot less crowded. He made his way through the crowds. He did a double take as he saw the date.

2023.

‘Five years. What the hell? This timeline is still going? I’m still in it?’ Strange gasped slightly as another FRICKING SPACESHIP APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE.

A deafening roar filled his ears, and he began running, running,running—

Straight to the bomb site. The Avenger Tower. The crown jewel of New York. Reduced to a pile of rumble. Steve Rogers— Captain America— was facing off Thanos. Alone. Tony Stark and Thor Odinson were pushing themselves up. ‘Must I watch us be defeated again?’

Then he saw it. Hundreds of portals opening behind the three of them, people emerging from the rubble, Captain America holding Thor’s hammer. 

This is it. This is our chance. 

He closed his eyes, thinking for sure they could win. 

When he opened them, he was staring at Pepper Potts, Peter Parker, and Rhodey gathered around Tony Stark’s body. Tears streaked their dusty faces. 

“It’s okay you can rest now.”

 

Strange backed away. Turning around showed him the funeral. Little Morgan Stark, asking Happy for a cheeseburger. Happy telling her how her dad like cheeseburgers. The people who loved Tony watching Pepper set his original arc reactor in the water. Grief hung heavy over the little cabin. 

Unable to watch it any further, he pulled himself out. 

Gasping, Steven Strange staggered back. This was the only choice. One in fourteen million. It was all about to start. He could feel it. Wong would come to speak with him any minute. Then it would begin. 

Composing himself, he whispered one thing out loud— a reminder to himself as he would steer the future onto this track.

“Sometimes the hardest choices are the only option.”


End file.
